But This Is Wondrous Strange
by Lt. Barbie Carson
Summary: CSI:M in a Star Trek universe thanks to Horatio
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: the characters herein are owned by CBS. I am not affiliated with CBS.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
The time spent with Ray Jr. brought Horatio back to his own childhood, remembering how he and Ray Sr. would play together. While cleaning through some boxes, Yelina happened to find several of Ray and Horatio's childhood memories; tattered comic books, a "Rally Day" lunch box filled with young boy's treasures of marbles, change and a few baseball cards, among other items. Ray Jr. picked up a tattered, unreadable card, examining it.  
  
"You and dad didn't take care of your cards."  
  
Horatio smiled, remembering why the baseball cards were in such poor condition.  
  
"We weren't interested in who was on the card, we just needed the cards for our bikes."  
  
Ray Jr. raised an eyebrow, sure that his uncle was crazy.  
  
"You see," Horatio lifted another card from the metal box, "…we would put a card in the spokes and as we rode, it would make a loud noise, like a moped…"  
  
Ray Jr. was shaking his little head. Horatio returned the card to its spot, looking down at the small collection of cards that rested inside. "That was very inventive for 1970…no video games, no hundreds of TV channels, no …"  
  
Ray Jr. rolled his eyes. "…and you had to walk 20 miles through a swamp filled with alligators to get to school…"  
  
'I'm starting to sound old.' Horatio thought as he smiled at Ray Jr's comment. Ray reached further in the box and pulled out a small, male figure wearing black pants, gold shirt and a lone black boot.  
  
"Who's this?" asked Ray Jr. as he handed the figure to Horatio. Upon closer inspection Horatio saw how rough play had taken its toll on the vinyl figure: missing paint, yet plenty of dirt covered the tiny head; the gold shirt was ripped on the side seams and hopefully the other boot was in the bottom of the box. He lifted the shirt, examining the back with a "MEGO" logo.  
  
"That's Captain Kirk, from Star Trek."  
  
" I never heard of Captain Kirk." replied Ray as he stared at the tiny figure in his uncle's hands.  
  
"He was the first captain of the Enterprise." Horatio stated.  
  
"Captain Archer's the first Captain." Ray Jr. quickly added. Horatio thought for a moment. He had no time for television and he had never heard of Captain Archer. Yet he realized it had been almost 40 years since he first watched the adventures of Kirk and company and, most likely, his nephew was right.  
  
"OK, I meant Kirk was the first Captain on TV in the late 60's, the first Star Trek series…"  
  
"Oh." Ray nonchalantly replied while pulling out a large, plastic structure from the box. "What's this?"  
  
Horatio couldn't believe this survived all this time. He and Ray spent hours and hours playing with this, indoors, outdoors, rain, shine. It was beaten-up but still in tact.  
  
"That's the transporter room." Horatio went to show Ray Jr. how it worked as he was about to place Kirk on a "transporter pad." He and Ray would place one of the figures on the pad and *poof* they were transported to their destination (which was actually the bottom of the unit). Horatio rotated the unit. Inside was another figure, one he thought was long lost. Horatio carefully cradled the small, vinyl figure.  
  
"This is Lieutenant Uhura." Unlike Kirk, she had her complete uniform. Unfortunately, on the top of her head black paint flecked off, following her hair line. Horatio didn't realize it, but he was smiling. How Ray would tease him…  
  
"What's so funny?" asked Ray Jr.  
  
Horatio's thoughts were back in 1973, 6:00 p.m. reruns, weeknights on Channel 48, how he and Ray were inseparable from the television, watching strange, new worlds. Kirk, seemingly fearless yet cautious at the same time, females and fisticuffs, confidant and courageous. Spock, smart and a smart-ass at the same time, more human than most other humans. McCoy, Scotty, … and his all-time favorite, Uhura. Or any other female on board the Enterprise. Every week, a young, hormonal 13-year-old Horatio Caine was treated to visions of micro-mini skirts, long, flowing hair and high, sexy gogo boots. Ray was just a little too young to appreciate the fairer sex, teasing his older brother for ogling the screen anytime Lieutenant Uhura bent over her console or anytime a yeoman bent down to give something to Kirk. 'The late 60's was the best time for women's fashions.' thought Horatio.  
  
Impatient, Ray Jr. tugged on his uncle's sleeve, waiting for an answer. The tug brought Horatio back to reality. Horatio placed the figure back in the transporter room, next to Kirk.   
  
"Your father and I had a lot of good times with these. Make sure you take care of them." Horatio stated, surrendering the box of memories to his nephew. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: the characters herein are owned by CBS. I am not affiliated with CBS.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Horatio lay staring staring at the plain, white ceiling above his bed. The white cleansed his mind as he focused on childhood memories of he and Ray, peaceful, happy times. Eventually, he surrendered to the alternate universe of sleep.  
  
"Someone was murdered on my ship and I want answers now." A stern, Captain Horatio Caine demanded to his senior officers. A young ensign was found dead. The captain called an emergency meeting to the briefing room; how could such a crime happen on his ship? He stared at each of his officers seated around the briefing room table.  
  
"Captain, the ensign was shot in the temple with a phaser." His Chief Medical Doctor, Lieutenant Commander Alexx Woods was the first to speak. Lovely black hair was piled in curls on top of her head, bouncing with each syllable. Her science blue uniform nicely complimented her dark skin tone.  
  
"But Dr. Woods," a handsome bearded Vulcan, Commander Speed, spoke up this time, "…if that's so, a security alarm would have sounded immediately."  
  
Captain Horatio Caine turned his stare to the one person that could answer that, his Chief of Security, Lieutenant Calleigh Duquesne, a lovely platinum southern bell.  
  
"Not if it was fired on stun."  
  
"If it was fired on stun, my roommate would still be alive!" Another young ensign, Delko, navigator and assistant to Commander Speed, remarked. His roommate and friend were dead and he was noticeably upset.  
  
"I understand why you're upset, Delko…" the captain began, "…but we have to stay calm and focused. I'm just as upset as you are." The captain placed a comforting hand on Delko's shoulder.  
  
"Sorry Captain." Delko meant it; his captain was always kind to his crew, never losing his temper.  
  
"Actually,…" Calleigh continued, "…a phaser fired on stun point-blank can kill…"  
  
"And since it was fired on stun, no security alarm sounded." Commander Speed completed her thought.  
  
Calleigh turned towards her Captain. "Whoever did this must have security clearance for the arsenal. No unauthorized phasers are missing."  
  
"Get the list of everyone that has clearance…" before Horatio finished speaking Calleigh already handed over a disk with his requested information.  
  
"Lieutenant Duquesne, we need an inventory of every phaser on board. Delko…" The eager ensign looked up at his captain, waiting for an assignment in this case, "…you can assist her."   
  
Dejected, Delko glanced down for a moment. Horatio noticed his unhappiness. "Are you alright, Eric?"  
  
"Captain, I would like to assist with the interviews if I may." He really wanted to participate in the case, not the usual grunt work.  
  
"You are participating. The lieutenant really needs your help. This will help find the weapon that killed your friend." Again, just the right words. No wonder he's a captain, thought Delko. Horatio handed the disk over to Commander Speed. "We'll go over this list and begin interviews." 'We' meaning Speed would look over the list and make suggestions to the captain. "Everyone dismissed." Each officer rose. Calleigh and Alexx walked towards the door, side by side. Horatio couldn't help but notice their form-fitting mini dresses and high, sexy black boots.   
  
The captain's thoughts were interrupted by a ringing sound. Ringing? He pulled out his communicator and whipped it open.  
  
"Captain Caine." He quickly replied.  
  
"Captain what?" replied the voice on the other end. Horatio's mind slowly began to focus. With a quick intake of breath, Horatio realized what he just said. He was not in the briefing room, he was not on his communicator. No, he just answered his phone. The voice on the other end continued, "H, are you still there?" It was Comm…no, it was Speed…  
  
"What is it, Speed." Horatio finally returned to reality.  
  
"It's after 10…" Speed didn't have to finish his statement. Horatio quickly hung up the phone and leapt out of bed.  
  
As he reached the doors of the Miami-Dade complex, he was greeted by a surprised co-worker.  
  
"H, are you feeling alright? You're never late…" Calleigh drawled. Horatio paused a moment, staring at her cream-colored pantsuit and tan shoes.  
  
"You know…you should try wearing a red mini dress with black boots…" Before she could reply, he hurried into the building, leaving a stunned Calleigh Duquesne at the doors.   
  
Did H just give me a fashion tip?… 


End file.
